Church youth leader convicted of sex abuse

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — A Las Vegas man has been convicted of sexually abusing boys while he was a youth leader at a church in Maryland in the 1980s.

Fifty-six-year-old Nathaniel Morales was convicted Thursday in Montgomery County Circuit Court. A jury found him guilty on three counts of sexual abuse of a minor and two counts of sexual offense.

Prosecutors say Morales worked with youth ministries and conducted Bible studies for Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg. He was accused of abusing three boys from 1983 to 1991 at group sleepovers and in their homes.

One of the victims reported the abuse to Montgomery County Police in 2009.